Writing Prompt #2

In the majority of films, the influence of superheroes for women is not always positive. Although women play a variety of roles in this genre, they are most commonly portrayed as the helpless maiden in distress or the hypersexualized heroine.

These action-packed films typically feature a strong, capable, intelligent man fighting a villainous force. The goal at hand is to save humanity, and more often than not, to rescue a damsel in distress. The female victim is typically delicate, naive, and defenceless, whilst still remaining sexy and beautiful.

Growing up, I always felt obligated to play the part of the helpless maiden. Being a girl was always connected to the idea of being weak and naive, helplessly waiting for our knight in shining armour. Even in the recent film Wonder Women, the main character is a half-god, half-mortal super creature depicted in revealing clothing who arrives on Earth to end all wars. Yet, despite her numerous and dominant superpower abilities, she instinctively obeys a handsome man with no skills apart from moderate decisiveness.

My point here is, that ideology behind superheroine is that regardless of your super abilities, that being super strength or super speed, females will almost always need saving from a male. On account of this, if I could create a girl superheroine, I would give her the power of courage. I believe that I do not need to have the ability of super strength or super speed to change the world. I just need the courage to be able to do so.

A great example of female heroines are the survivors of the #metoo movement. These females found the courage to stand up for themselves and it changed their lives and society forever. Many said that the #metoo movement helped other victims find the courage to speak up, and I believe that this is the most powerful ability that anyone can possess.